TEHRAN - Transit of commodities through the Iranian roads network increased 98 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20), as compared to the preceding year, the director-general of Transit and International Transportation Affairs Bureau of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization (RMTO) said.According to Javad Hedayati, over 9.3 million tons of goods were transited via the country in the previous year, IRIB reported.Hedayati noted that the transit of goods via Iran has also increased by 43 percent in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-May 21) as compared to the same period last year.“Transiting 20 million tons of goods through Iran is targeted for the current year, of which 10 million tons will be transported through the north-south corridor,” the official said mentioning the recent developments in the Iran-Russia transport relations.He also pointed to the recent visit of the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to Uzbekistan, saying: “One of the topics that will be followed up during Ghalibaf's visit to Uzbekistan is the development of transit cooperation between the two countries.”“Being landlocked, Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, need the transportation route of neighboring countries, especially Iran, to supply the goods they need and export their products,” he added.Referring to Iran’s transit advantages in reaching the markets of the Central Asian countries, he said: “The closest access route to the Central Asian countries is through the border of Sarkhs and Lotfabad in Iran.”The policy of paying attention to neighbors and developing political and economic relations with neighboring countries in the current government, increasing attention to road and rail routes in the world, and the efforts and cooperation of transportation and trade-related organizations in establishing or activating corridors through the country have led to significant growth in transit of goods through Iran.EF/MA